RKSS
TypeFilmmaking collective
Founded2004 (2004)
HeadquartersQuebec, Canada
Key people
  • François Simard
  • Anouk Whissell
  • Yoann-Karl Whissell

RKSS, an initialism for Roadkill Superstars, is a filmmaking trio consisting of Canadian film directors François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell.[1] They are known for writing and directing their debut feature film Turbo Kid (2015) and for directing the horror mystery film Summer of 84 (2018).

History

The group have been making short films since the mid-2000s, and cited their 2004 short Le Bagman as the first that "got an audience to follow [their] work", additionally crediting Total Fury (2007) and Demonitron (2010) as projects that further defined their style and technique.[2]

In 2011, the trio submitted a short to the anthology film The ABCs of Death, which features 26 short films based on each letter of the English alphabet. The film's producers Ant Timpson and Tim League held a competition seeking unknown directors to create a short for the letter "T", and the group submitted T is for Turbo, which placed third in the competition and was included on the film's home release.[3] Impressed with their work, Timpson approached them to develop the short into the feature film Turbo Kid.[4] Jason Eisener, who directed the Y is for Youngbuck section of the anthology, also supported RKSS at the Fantasia International Film Festival's Frontieres Co-Production Market in 2013.[5] Turbo Kid premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival[6] and was theatrically released on August 28, 2015, by Epic Pictures Group.[7]

RKSS signed to an agency after the success of Turbo Kid, and during a "tour of meetings" were approached by production company assistant Matt Leslie, who pitched them the idea for Summer of 84.[8] Leslie and co-writer Stephen J. Smith described the film's ending to the trio, and they signed on to direct.[9] With the unexpected release and subsequent success of the Netflix series Stranger Things in 2016, the group was afraid of possible similarities between the two projects. Anouk Whissell watched the series and found it "very different", with only a reference to the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons removed from Summer of 84 as a result.[10] The film premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and received a simultaneous release in August 2018.[11] That October, it was released to streaming as a Shudder-exclusive film.[12]

Future projects

In January 2015, the group said that they were developing a revenge film titled Elora.[13] That August, they were preparing a pitch for that film, now referred to as Elora's Death Wish, along with an adaptation of the comic book series The Zombies That Ate the World.[14]

In September 2016, RKSS directed a music video for Le Matos' song "No Tomorrow", which also served as a prequel to Turbo Kid and featured Laurence Leboeuf reprising her role as Apple.[15] The next day, they confirmed that a sequel had been greenlit and that they hoped to begin filming by mid-2017.[16] By August 2018, the group confirmed the film was still in development and that they were "deep in the writing process" for it.[9] In February 2020, Timpson said that the script was finished and the crew was seeking financiers as the sequel requires "a little bit more money than [they] had for the first film".[17] In 2018, the group was also writing adaptations of two comics books, with Yoann-Karl Whissell saying that one is a horror comic and the other is about zombies.[8]

Filmography

Year Title Director Writer Role(s)
2015 Turbo Kid Yes Yes The Father (François Simard)
The Mother (Anouk Whissell)
Bald Guard (Yoann-Karl Whissell)
2018 Summer of 84 Yes No —
2023 We Are Zombies Yes Yes
Wake Up Yes No

References

  1. ↑ Aguilar, Carlos (August 7, 2015). "Next Fest: 7 Questions with the RKSS Collective, the Filmmaking Team Behind 'Turbo Kid'". IndieWire. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  2. ↑ Whissell, Yoann-Karl; Simard, François; Whissell, Anouk (January 27, 2015). "How To Make the Jump from a Short to a Sundance Film Festival Feature". IndieWire. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  3. ↑ Smith, Nigel M. (November 15, 2011). ""The ABCs of Death" Selects Its 26th (And Last) Director". IndieWire. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  4. ↑ Nemiroff, Perri (January 27, 2015). "Directors Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell Talk Turbo Kid at Sundance". Collider. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  5. ↑ Brown, Todd (January 31, 2013). "Jason Eisener Talks The ABCs of Death". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  6. ↑ Pedersen, Erik (June 16, 2015). "'Turbo Kid' Teaser Trailer – Cheeky '80s Action Meets 2015 Park City At Midnight". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  7. ↑ Pedersen, Erik (June 16, 2015). "'Turbo Kid' Gets August Release Date; Eric Goldberg Joins USC School of Cinematic Arts". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  8. 1 2 Haubrich, Wess (August 10, 2018). "A chat with the filmmaking triforce behind 2015's Turbo Kid and the new nostalgia thriller Summer of '84: RKSS". The 405. Archived from the original on August 10, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  9. 1 2 Navarro, Meagan (August 10, 2018). "[Interview] Director Trio RKSS Talk Balancing Nostalgia with Grim Thrills in 'Summer of 84'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  10. ↑ Prokopy, Steven (August 10, 2018). "'Summer of '84 Directors on Crafting Their Nostalgic Horror Throwback and the Status of 'Turbo Kid 2' [Fantasia Film Festival Interview]". /Film. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  11. ↑ Foutch, Haleigh (August 2, 2018). "Watch: Exclusive 'Summer of '84' Clip Goes on a Manhunt for a Murderer". Collider. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  12. ↑ Davis, Carla (October 14, 2019). "31 movies to watch in October: Summer of '84". 1428 Elm. FanSided. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  13. ↑ Kay, Jeremy (January 26, 2015). "RKSS Collective, Turbo Kid". Screen Daily. Media Business Insight. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  14. ↑ Fillion, Pamela (August 13, 2015). "Turbo Kid is a Montreal film scene success". Cult MTL. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  15. ↑ Barkan, Jonathan (September 28, 2016). "'Turbo Kid 2' Officially Announced". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  16. ↑ LaPointe, Bruno (September 27, 2016). "«Turbo Kid 2» en chantier". Le Journal de Montréal. Quebecor. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  17. ↑ Miska, Brad (February 5, 2020). "'Turbo Kid' Sequel Still Planned; Likened to 'The Road Warrior'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
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